


Intersecting Lives

by UnheardAmateurWriter



Category: Mother 2: Gyiyg no Gyakushuu | EarthBound, Mother 3
Genre: A lot of attempted humour I guess, F/F, F/M, Humour, Lucas almost burns down Ness' kitchen, M/M, Most of the tags will be for upcoming chapters, Multi, That cliche haunted mansion chapter, canon references, everyone is an ass, more characters and pairings to be added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-11-13
Updated: 2017-04-06
Packaged: 2018-02-25 04:27:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,282
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2608484
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UnheardAmateurWriter/pseuds/UnheardAmateurWriter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In a way, they are connected. There's always someone-something- that binds them together.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Pokey Minch

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since people are such big fans of Ness/Lucas I decided to put a little dingle-dangle of AU one-shots of them together (either together, as friends, acquaintances, etc.) here. Some may or may not be connected.  
> This first one here, is an exception, though. Canon is very present here and is written about Pokey. I figured that since EarthBound references (and Pokey Minch himself) are riddled throughout Mother 3, that this would be appropriate.

 Giygas may have been defeated, but sometimes Ness had to wonder where his old friend and next door neighbour Pokey Minch had run off to. He never saw him again after he fled from battle when Giygas had become unstable, those taunts of his being the last thing he had ever heard from the boy. Pokey may have been a dick, but he had also been a bit misunderstood. Ness didn't truly get why Pokey had taunted him and turned to Giygas-the supposed alien that was going to destroy him and take over Earth!

 Ness had thought about how Giygas knew he was the 'chosen one' and why he had come to conquer Earth. He had chalked the first up to the whole being psychic powers thing, but the latter he wasn't so sure. Things coming to conquer Earth and fighting a chosen hero or four was something out of a TV show or movie! Then again, there was the story of Ninten. The odd-named boy who had gone out one day after a poltergeist hit his house and ended up fighting Giygas himself. There were other details, but sources were scarce by the day and not all were reliable.

 ANYWAY, back to Pokey, Ness hadn't realised just how jealous the boy had been of him. He had been fragile and childish. Probably things that led him to be manipulated by Giygas to completely turn against him. Now Pokey was gone and the Minch household was more chaotic than ever. Just where  _had_ he gone? Would he ever come back?

 

 Ness would never know what happened to Pokey Minch, but a boy named Lucas would. In the far future way past his time on the Nowhere Islands, Pokey would appear again. Old, but not much wiser than he was before. Still mentally a child, he tried to conquer the Nowhere Islands. Ness would never know the mementos that Pokey-now calling himself Porky- kept. The boy named Lucas would see them, but not fully understand the meanings behind them. He would see shots of Ness and his friends projected on a theatre screen, but he would never understand everything that they represented.

 It was because of Ness that Pokey had eventually ended up here. It was because of Pokey that he had ended up here. Nothing ever worked out for Pokey, and it never would. Now he sits, alone, in a capsule all by himself, doomed to insanity and immortality for all eternity. Not even death would claim him. What a horrible life this boy has lived. All he wanted was something better than what he had, but his burning jealousy had been his downfall. 

 

 Ness and Lucas only had access to one part of Pokey's life. While Ness wasn't necessarily important to Lucas' life, he knew what Ness would never know. Lucas may not have existed in Ness' life, but he knew what Lucas didn't know. It seems that no one would ever understand Pokey.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Blargh, I hate that ending. 
> 
> I truly believe that no one but Pokey himself really understands his life and why he did things. Pokey may be one of the most hated characters of the MOTHER Series, but he's also one of the most tragic.


	2. Be Careful of What You Ask for Because Murder Could Happen.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ness is a dum-dum and allows Lucas to cook something in his kitchen. Lucas is thrown into a psuedo-war as he fights to save aforementioned dum-dum's kitchen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I've finally decided to arise from my grave and grace everyone with this one-shot. Thank you guys for all the hits. There was tons more than I was expecting. It made me push to finish this chapter and finally put it out. I hope you enjoy.
> 
> Let's play: Spot the headcanons or whatever. Can you get them all?

 Lucas was starting to think maybe that Ness shouldn’t have let him in his kitchen. Okay, that’s a lie. Lucas _knew_ that Ness shouldn’t have let him in his kitchen. To be fair, Lucas did try to make something other than omelets, but the idiot had insisted that he prepare something while he was out. That turned out to be a bad move (as it usually would be) as Lucas was not gifted or skilled in the art of cooking. He could make a decent omelet, sure, but attempts at making anything else, more often than not, went up in literal flames.

 

 Unfortunately, as previously stated, Lucas did not make any omelets. He was debatably stupid enough to try to make something else. Wait, why was this debatable? Uh… reasoning? Yeah, yeah! That’s totally what it is! See, Ness was being an asshole and not listening to him when he was reminding him that he couldn’t cook worth shit. Yes, _reminding_ him. Ness had heard the stories and seen examples of so called “food” that Lucas had made that had been lucky enough to escape the scorching fires of presumably Hell. So how in God’s name did he forget?

 

 

 Lucas wasn’t quite sure how Ness could have forgotten, but Ness’ refutations against all of his protests pissed him off. How dare he forget something so important, and then proceed to disrespect him by telling him to get in the kitchen, and then leave with that little smile that may have implied that he expected him to make omelets, but said he could make whatever? Really, does he think he’s stupid?

 

 

 Okay, cut the crap before it goes any farther. Like Lucas would intentionally use his lack of skill to set his boyfriend’s kitchen on fire. That would just be stupid and over doing it. In fact, there was never any malicious intent at all. He had just wanted to surprise him.

 

 Surprise him with decent cooking.

 

 

 Anyway, well actually no, that’s very relevant. While Lucas’s motivations for wanting to do so may be a bit unclear, hope and perseverance had become his leaders. They encouraged him as he fought a mighty battle with his phone and cheered in his victory as he was finally able to ask a search engine on how to create the almighty steak. Its divine holiness would cause people to tear up just from being in its presence. It would have to be consecrated; truly, a new mark in the Steak Religion. Ness would be proud.

 

 Confidence had joined the party afterword and Lucas looked at several different results with brevity. Progress was made. Things had been going well.

 

 “Had” is the keyword. As present tense settles down in its relationship counseling with past tense, Lucas wonders where in hell he went wrong. “I followed all the directions. How does this happen?”

 

 It was true. He had been pretty faithful to the directions. Or at least, that’s what he thinks. Then again, there was always that ever growing sense of doubt that threatened to be masked by the curtain of anxiety-induced panic.

 

 

 Lucas ran a hand through his hair as he quickly skimmed the paragraphs of directions on his phone, franticly searching for what he did wrong. Perhaps he should have waited to do this action, however, as smoke intoxicated the air.

 

 The fire wasn’t that bad. It hadn’t spread anywhere besides the frying pan. Yet.

 

 Lucas took one glance at the fire before grappling for a glass of some kind. There wasn’t any glass to grapple so he resorted to hurriedly walking over to a cabinet and opening it. Getting distracted once again by the directional text on his phone, he was slow to retrieve the first glass the eye could see.

 

 He turned around, already done skimming the text again. Jeez, what was that, Mach 2? Nobody really knows, but what people do know, is that Lucas is in quite the peril. It could only get worse from here, seeing as how Lucas was taking his damn sweet time in quenching the inferno that was feeding off seconds, famished for destruction.

 

 Seriously, how hadn’t he started coughing from the all the smoke yet? Oh wait, there he goes. That is most definitely not a pleasant taste.

 

 Looking towards the main light source of the room, Lucas promptly paled at the sight before him. The wooden shelves above the stove had caught fire.

 

 “Shit,” he swore as he scrambled for the kitchen sink. He hit the cold water and for about 15 seconds he stood there, thoughts starting to race in his mind. Smoke entered his lungs again and he coughed once more. It was only at this moment that he realised that the glass was still in his hand.

 

 He slams the glass into the sink, a loud clank resonating from it. The odd decibel at which was created hardly registered to the human ear. The sound of crackling and running water deafened the pitch and Lucas was overcome with a sense of doubt.

 

  _‘This is just a simple glass. What if I can’t put the fire out fast enough? I don’t want to have to call the fire department, again.’_ Thoughts like this continued to play, almost like a movie.

 

 Lucas couldn’t let this internal play distract him, though. Grabbing the glass, Lucas, with formidable speed, threw the water at the fire. The burning flames seemed to recoil, hissing at the water’s deadly touch.

 

 Lucas knew what he had to do.

 

 Returning the glass to refill, he slid over to the cabinet and grabbed several more glasses. Arming his troops, Lucas ran to the front lines. In two’s his soldiers fought the scorching inferno, water going everywhere.

 

  Soon, the flames of disaster were losing the battle, marks littering the battlefield. Lucas didn’t slow down, though. He didn’t tire until his victory was concrete. Good thing he didn't as he could have missed the fact that the stove was still on and the fire could have had backup.

 

 In almost a dramatic fashion, Lucas slid onto the floor, panting. Wiping his brow, he sighed in relief, happy that this hadn't gotten any worse. At least he had won. He had won this battle and that was all that mattered.

 

 Arms aching, Lucas pushed himself up off the floor. He still has to survey the aftermath.

 

 

 Well, there was water everywhere, that’s for sure.

 

 Grabbing the paper towels, Lucas was proud of himself. He had managed to put the fire out and he hadn’t let any doubt get the best of him. Still, just how did he burn the steak in the first place? That part still confused him, but it must have been _something_ for it to go up in flames.

 

 There is still quite a bit of smoke in the air, and Lucas figures that it will clear up quickly when he throws this crisp away. Picking up the frying pan, he makes his way towards the garbage can. Opening it, he attempts to dump the deceased steak into it. It doesn’t move. He then tries to scrap off the damn thing and eventually it plops into the garbage, smoke wafting from it.

 

 After almost wheezing from that, Lucas sets the frying pan in the sink with all the glasses he used to fight. He should probably turn the water faucet back on.

 

 Contemplating whether he should wipe up the water first or turn on the cold water, Lucas wasted about a minute or two he could have used doing one or both of those things. His decision was only made by the sound of someone opening and closing the door.

 

 Water poured from the faucet and hit the glasses and frying pan, a loud noise and steam resulting from it. Lucas instantly jumped back, seeming surprised. His reaction was a bit silly, he admitted to himself. Still, after the ordeal he just went through…

 

 Unfortunately, his ordeal wasn’t over quite yet. Here’s why: even though he had put out the fire, the smoke hadn’t yet cleared. There was also the whole Ness factor. Ness has a reflex where he can tear up easily in the presence of smoke. That would only distract him so long before he would be able to kill him.

 

 That was the main thought going through Lucas’ mind as Ness came into the kitchen, already wiping at his eyes. _‘Ness is going to kill me.’_

 

 This could have been a great place to perhaps end a chapter; however, there is no part two of this scenario. Why wait an agonising amount of time for a conclusion when a conclusion can be viewed right now?

 

 Ahem, Lucas stood in place and watched as Ness blinked. An awkward, sheepish smile was already making its home on Lucas’ face, Ness taking in the state of his kitchen.

 

 He seemed to be in some sort of awe. “What…” He repeated that a couple times before groping for a full sentence. “What did you do?” The calmness of that question is what intimated Lucas the most.

 

 “Err…uh…the food may have caught fire a little…”

 

 “Oh my God,” Ness said, wiping his eyes again.

 

 “At least I was able to put it out this time.”

 

 “This time?!” Ness looked perplexed. “I thought for sure…!”

 

 “For sure, what?” 

“That…never mind, it’s stupid.”

 

 “What’s stupid, your assumption that I was just going to make omelets?”

 

 Ness was silent for a moment. “Well, I don’t think I was wrong for doing so, but I guess it wasn’t the smartest decision.”

 

 Was that a contradiction? “Sometimes I swear you think I’m stupid.” This sudden fight in him struck Lucas as odd, although he pretty much had a good reason for it.

 

 “You can be sometimes…” Ness muttered.

 

 “I feel the same about you, to be honest.”

 

 Great, now everything is awkward. Is a fight between these two actually going to happen?

 

 “What did you try to make, anyway?” 

“Steak, I had wanted to surprise you.”

 

 “I don’t always eat steak, y’know.”

 

 “Are you still crying?”

 

 “Shut up! There’s still a lot of smoke around! This is your fault.”

 

 “It’s your fault for leaving me unsupervised.”

 

 “You’re old enough. I thought I could trust you.” Joking tone or not, that last sentence bothered the two of them. Trust. Lucas couldn’t really blame Ness for that, but how could he accept other people trusting him when he couldn’t even trust himself for this type of thing?

 

 “I guess we’ll need to work on that, then.” Lucas said.

 

 Ness nodded. “I’m still confused, though.”

 

 “About what?”

 

 “About how you can make a good omelet and absolutely destroy everything else!” Perplexity was back, he really was stumped on how this was even remotely possible.

 

 Lucas shrugged. “Sometimes I wonder that, too. It seems it may be one of the many wonders of life.”

 

 “I don’t know why, but it feels odd to hear you say that. Anyway, I suppose we should clean my kitchen now?”

 

 Oh yeah, that was a thing. “Probably, I was going to get to that.” As Ness moved towards where the paper towels were, Lucas added, “This went better than I thought it was going to go.”

 

 “What do you mean? How so?”

 

 “I thought you were going to kill me.”

 

 “I will kill you if you don’t start moving.”

 

 “…I’m really sorry about your kitchen, Ness.”

 

 “You will be sorry if I have to end up replacing those shelves.”

 

 Lucas laughed. Ness probably would have his head. Maybe when this was over he could get him to apologise to him about not listening to him. Yeah, that seemed like a good idea.

 

 …

 

 “I think I know what I did wrong.”

 

 “What?”

 

 “I think I cooked it at too high of a temperature.”

 

 “Then how did…? Nope, never mind. I don’t think I want to know.”

 

 “Me neither, actually.”

 

 “I worry about you, Lucas.”

 

 “I do too, Ness. I really do.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At first I was going to have them get into an actual fight, but it didn't quite turn out that way. Also his cellphone is never mentioned again, I guess. Ehehehe. You guys might wait a while for the next chapter (that is if you're still around), but I'm open to suggestion and/or ideas.


	3. HH: Torture (Part 1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ninten dares Ness and Lucas to go to an actual haunted house. They hate him for it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So my friend and I concocted a bunch of ideas for a haunted house chapter over a year ago on a sleep deprived night and we went nuts. We hope you enjoy the first chapter of this edited shlock.
> 
> EDIT: Re-edited some things.  
> Edit: Edited some more things that were pointed out to me.

 “I almost can’t believe Ninten was serious about this.”

 “I almost can’t believe we’re actually doing this.”

 Outside of a mansion known simply as Hamilton House stands Ness and Lucas. It’s rumours of being haunted and it’s abandonment since 200X has given it a small but odd reputation. Hesitating stepping on the broken, creaky wooden porch steps before them; the two know that other than that, they aren’t privy to anything else about the legend.

 The majority of windows are cracked (the ones on the bottom right are boarded up, its dark maroon curtains fluttering in the wind), the awning is grimy and askew; a falling hazard and the porch itself made of soft maple wood is faded and in horrid condition. There is a strange swing contraption that creaks as it sways by the breeze sweeping through the early autumn air. Near the old grey house is the comical, pretty cliché bare tree that completely adds to the atmosphere. In fact, everything seems dead and devoid of life. Which is to say, from what they can see, the house is in full dilapidation.

 “This place looks like it’s straight out of a horror movie.”

 “Oh, you’re allowed to watch those now?” Ness jokes, receiving an elbow to his shoulder in return.

 “Don’t be a dick, Ness. That’s Ninten’s job.”

 “It’s not only _his_  "job",” Ness mutters and then adds with a smile, “Think we should just get this over with?”

 Lucas shrugs, but starts forward. The faster they get in there, the faster they can get out. Of course anxiety accumulates in the pit of his stomach, but it’s too late to back out now. Ninten had dared them to do this and if they have any experiences here like Ninten claims he had at Rosemary mansion, then the two of them could expect to have one less friend.

 Lucas starts up the porch steps almost cautiously. The creaking that results from his weight on the wooden steps isn’t anything atypical. He assumes this is probably the easiest and most underwhelming thing they are to experience.

 At the top, he raises an eyebrow at the odd rusted swing contraption. He has never seen a porch swing look as deformed as that thing. In fact, if he hadn’t known any better, he wouldn’t have recognised it as one. It’s quite warped, smushed together and somehow in a wave like pattern. Some of the edges look sharp, and Lucas makes a mental note to never get into close proximity with it.

 “I’m not sure if I want to know how and why it looks like that,” Lucas comments as Ness finally reaches the top of the steps. He is a bit more cautious than Lucas is, but he decided to take his damn time by ghosting the rail with his fingers and tip-toeing. Ness takes one look at it and says, “Damn, how is that even possible?”

 Lucas and Ness stare at it for a moment longer pondering its plausibility before deciding that maybe it was better left a mystery for the time being and turn towards the door.

 The door is barely clutching onto the hinges and sure ain’t alabaster white anymore. Lucas watches as Ness opens the door _as slowly and prudently as possible_ until the door is wide enough to let them slip inside. As they do so, Lucas asks if they are going to close the door behind them and is immediately answered with a “No.”

 “I’m going to hurt Ninten if we end up getting some sickness from inhaling whatever is in the air here.”

  _‘That’s what you’re concerned with?’_ Lucas thinks looking around the room. Straight ahead of them leads to a door granting access to the back of the house and to their right is another door. The room itself is a den. There is a couch in the back corner and some paintings on the walls. On a stand in the middle of the room stands a TV with the screen smashed in; about a fourth of it is hanging off the side. The floors are in a state of rot and the wallpaper is faded and peeling. It isn’t anything particularly special, but with the dim lighting casting in from the windows and the door, it creates a slightly unnerving and desolated atmosphere despite and due to the scarcity of items in the room.

 Dust particles loiter through the air and Lucas barely stifles a cough. He remembers a thing called asbestos. Meanwhile, Ness concerns himself with another matter.

 “Wow, it’s pretty dark de-wait, is that a flashlight?” There is an incredulous tone to his voice and this stirs Lucas from his basic observations.

 Ness moves in front of him and reaches down to pick up something. He turns to Lucas and holds it so he can clearly see it and what does he know, it _is_ a flashlight. This is awfully convenient.

 Lucas has a thought. “Did you remember to bring the flashlights?”

 “I thought you were supposed to bring them,” Ness responds a little confused.

 “ _What?_ I’m clearly empty handed! You’re the one with the backpack!”

 “Oh.”

 “What do you even have in there, anyway?”

 “My trusty baseball bat, of course!” Lucas shakes his head at Ness’s overly cheerful reply. “Does it work?”

 “What the flashlight?” Ness asks both him and Lucas thinking something along the lines of, _‘what else, dumbass?’_

 Turning it on, a massive discovery is made: it works. The light emanating from it is dimmer than desired, but this doesn’t come as a surprise.

 Ness proceeds to walk around the room with it, quickly catching onto Lucas’s basic observations from before. “Hm, works decently enough,” he comments inspecting the couch. It’s decorated in a floral pattern, although it’s difficult to tell what with all the dust and grime on it. Clearly not in the best shape, it looks like the kind of couch elders would stereotypically have in their homes.

 “It seems kind of ominous,” Lucas says looking at one of the three paintings hung in the room. It’s the furthest from the other two, adjacent to the windows and abstract of sorts. He can make out two figures and a crescent moon between them. The first figure has a head resembling the crescent moon and the other one has a circular head accented with a beak.

 His eyes squint to better focus on the details of the painting. Crescent-Face has two lines that could possibly be a face and an eye like a dagger, glaring down upon him. This unnerves him a little more than he thinks it should but Bird-Thing isn’t helping matters much despite looking completely unassuming.

 “…Yeah, I wonder if someone was here.”

 Lucas finds the desire to turn away from the jarring painting and ask Ness what he means. Unfortunately, this doesn’t work as he simply cannot tear his eyes from the imagery displayed before him.

 Ness ceases turning the flashlight with his wrist, inspecting it, and glances over at the other two paintings, seeing as they are on his left next to the couch. Within basic frames are portraits of a man and woman. Nothing strange; based on the way the woman’s reddish hair is styled they must originate from a previous decade.

 Taking one last glance at the old couch propped in front of the corner, he turns around and sweeps his eyes over the room once more. Some of the placement in this room is a bit strange. He would expect the TV in the middle of the room to face the couch rather than the alternative. Then again, the placement of the couch itself is a bit off. Even if the TV were to face the couch it would look weird. It makes him continue to wonder if someone had been through here before. Were they moving this stuff?

 Ness ponders if this person could still be around. He notices Lucas, standing still. Shining the flashlight at the abstract painting he comments, “I guess they liked more than just realism.” He blinks at his sudden commentary and averts his eyes from it. Something about it is unsettling and yet oddly familiar.

 Ness frowns when Lucas doesn’t acknowledge him. Did he somehow not hear him? No, he’s right next to him, plus he never responded to his earlier comment. Just how long has he been staring at this thing? Ness isn’t quite sure why it matters but it bothers him, so he puts a hand on his friend’s shoulder, causing the aforementioned youth to jump. “Is a little off-putting art that interesting?”

 “Huh?” Lucas almost shouts, turning to look at him.

 “The painting you were staring at for a good ten minutes,” Ness gestures to the painting of interest with the flashlight, remarking to himself that it seems familiar despite never having seen it before.

 “Oh! Right, sorry,” Lucas apologises. “Was it really ten minutes?”

 “Felt like it.”

 Lucas looks around awkwardly. “I guess we’re done here?” He asks, figuring it too late to bring back up the conversation from before.

 “Uh, yeah, let’s see what else this place has in store.” Ness says, restraining the urge to ask him if he’s alright. He has an inkling that Lucas would brush him off, anyways.

 The two reach the door adjacent to the front and share a quick look before Ness turns the knob and opens the door.

 They are promptly greeted with the weirdest kitchen they would ever see in their lifetime. On either side of them are counters of cabinets that stretch just before the doors on either side of the walls.

 “Hold on, is that an island?” Lucas starts forward and Ness follows to the middle of the room where they conclude that it is, indeed, an island. They can make out a sink on the other side.

 The two head right past a knife holder and are near a door when something gleams and Ness looks for the source. It’s a refrigerator.

 “When was the last time someone lived here again? I don’t think that’s supposed to be here,” Lucas questions.

 “It’s not,” is the affirmation. It’s oddly modern, and chrome. Like, really fucking chrome, and also it’s clean; a dim flashlight is enough to tell him that. All it’s missing is the ice and water contraption.

 “Pretty clean,” Lucas muses.

 Now curious, Ness unsurprisingly wants to open it. “I wonder if there’s any food in here.” With this, he opens the refrigerator. To his genuine surprise, the built in refrigerator light comes on; sitting there, on a lone plate is a pig head.

 “A pig’s head…?”

 “Wow, the light works!” Ness exclaims, his rush of child-like curiosity making him appear unaffected by the head.

 “…This place isn’t supposed to have running electricity, though,” Lucas points out.

 “Greetings, ladies,” a smooth deep voice says. The boys are instantly on guard Ness just barely processing who said that while he hands (read: throws) the flashlight at Lucas and reaches for his self-claimed trusty bat.

 “W-who’s there?” Lucas calls out clichély.

 “Oh, tis I, right in front of thy eyes,” the voice speaks again.

 “The pig’s talking,” Ness informs.

 Lucas is a bit perplexed by this. Isn’t it dead…and a pig?

 “ _"_ _To be or not to be, that is the question"_.” It quotes.

 “So…you’re a zombie then?” asks Ness.

 “Aye, but no needeth to plunder thy life, for thou tis immobile,” the pig answers.

 Both unfortunate suckers are baffled by this situation.

 “Hath thy felines caught thy tongues?”

 “…Just not used to talking pig’s heads is all.”

 “Let me tell you a story.” There is a pause. “The end.”

 “T-that wasn’t a story!” Ness exclaims.

 “I don’t know, man,” Lucas starts.

 “Are you kidding me?” Ness immediately retorts.

 “It was pretty moving,” he concludes, a Single Tear falling from his eye.

 Ness isn’t prepared to become the Straight Man this fast, and quite frankly, he doesn’t appreciate it. “A-are you serious? Are you really going to try to mess with me, too?”

 “Doth not sayeth such things mine lief. Unlike thee, this wench knoweth how to be hark and beest cognisant of a valorous story.”

 Lucas lets out an airy laugh and Ness is confused as to why because _did he just call him a wench?_ Either Lucas is acting a little strange or he doesn’t have a good grasp of Shakespearean. Ness thinks it’s probably a mixture of the two as he just can’t shake this nauseating feeling.

 Ness regrets opening the fridge.

 Goodness gracious, if they make it out of here Ninten is so going down.

 “Doth thee doubt thy cousin?”

 “Huh?” Lucas’s confusion on that entire statement reflects Ness’s confusion on which friend he’s referring to. This pig head must be able to use telepathy or just has amazing intuition. The Shakespearean (which he admits is rather odd) is a little unnecessary but it must come across as cryptic or something since such speech leaves many people scratching their heads.

 “You’re not cryptic, you know this, right?”

 The pig head is silent for moment, and then lets out a low chuckle. “I see, then alloweth me maketh one last request.”

 “What is it, Otis?” Lucas prompts. _‘Otis? What???’_

 “…Otis doesn't exist hither, but I am quite fill'd with pangs of hunger so may I peradventure beest allowed to consume thee?”

 “Eeemmm, no,” Ness responds denying a poor pig’s last request.

 “Oh cometh on, I'll maketh sure to killeth thee first.”

 “I thought you couldn’t move.”

 “I lied.”

 “Seems legit,” Lucas uselessly says.

 “I’ll let you eat me if you tell me what the hell is wrong with him.” Ness points at Lucas.

 “Gravely?”

 “No, I lied.”

 “Of course, those wenches at each moment doth.” The pig mutters.

 “So, deal or no deal?”

 “Well, thee hath said thee lied, so I must decline.”

 “Damn, that was a pretty good offer. I just might have to take care of him myself.”

 Ness just about groans. “Lucas, no one is talking to you.” It may seem a bit rude but it gets him to shut up.

 “Beware, young maidens, don’t stare into the abyss. Like the dark side of the moon-” The fridge suddenly slams shut.

 “Wow, I love kryptonite,” states Ness, his subconscious taking hold of those parting words and implanting them into his memory.

 Lucas, meanwhile, looks at him like he’s stupid. “That was not the point; that was never the point.”

 “Says you!” Ness refutes.

 “I think you need to step up your game, that comeback was really weak.” Ness prefers to ignore the insult and "focus" on something else. “That dark side of the moon stuff…I wonder what he meant.”

 “He meant to be " _as swift as a coursing river"_ ,” Lucas half-quotes.

 “I’m going to take away your flashlight privileges.”

 “I should be saying that to you.”

 “Okay, seriously, what is wrong you with you? When you’re not being sassy you keep saying odd things.” Seriously, that conversation at one point, he wasn’t saying anything that made much sense.

 “How do you mean?”

 “You seem…a bit out of it.”

 “Hit me.”

 “What?”

 “You heard what I said. Let’s test this shit, hit me like you’re going to hit Scarf Boy when we get out of here.”

  _Scarf Boy?_ He’s never heard that one and he kind of wishes he hadn’t. “See, now you’re not making any sense again.”

 “Sense? Ness, look at my face. I’m being completely serious. What part of this doesn’t make any sense? You know what never mind, don’t answer that, just do it.”

 “Why?”

 “JUST DO IT!”

 “FINE!” At last succumbing to peer pressure, Ness stands in position readying his bat, not sure if he should be doing this. Why is he listening to his friend’s masochistic request? Maybe it would snap him out of it or something, he did say “let’s test this shit.” He is just about exasperated at this point so he doesn’t care about reasoning at this moment in time.

 Lucas looks at him weird and Ness swings the bat, careful not to swing with enough force to break something. He does, however, swing a little harder than intended.

 _“Not with the bat, you idiot!”_ Lucas hisses, stumbling back. He starts coughing and clutches his chest and Ness wonders just how much that hurt him.

 “Oops, sorry about that,” he apologises, eyeing the flashlight as it rolls a few feet away from where Lucas is standing. It seems the impact was enough to cause him to drop it.

 “The hell did you do that for?” Lucas demands.

 “You were-Lucas are you alright?” Concern laces Ness’s voice and Lucas isn’t sure how to feel about it or what to make of it. Something must have happened. Where did the flashlight go?

 “Oh you know, just a pain in my chest. Otherwise, I’m fine. I’m a little confused, but fine.” Lucas looks to his right and spots the flashlight. He retrieves it.

 “That’s good.” Was that relief? Lucas frowns. “Ness, did something happen with that pig head? The door is closed…”

 “…Do you remember anything about the pig head?”

 “I remember it referring to us as girls and you asking him if he was a zombie, which I think he answered positively to. After that I don’t really recall much.”

 Ness sighs, contemplating if explaining any of the latter part of the conversation is worth it. He tells him the pig head tested his patience. He neglects to mention the warning but that could be brought up another time if it actually seems like it might be important. Ness is a little too peeved with that head right now.

 The door they were originally going to check they find is locked. An odd set of light purple French doors in the back is also locked. Their last option is the one on the left. As they near it, they spot an old-fashioned wooden stove.

 “Does it bother you that there is no set theme in this room?”

 “I don’t think there was in the last one either. If I had to give this room a theme, it’d be _“Decades.”_ ”

 They find the door to be unlocked. Both warily step inside, not quite sure what to expect.

 Whatever they could have expected definitely isn’t what they see. No, this is beyond anything anyone could ever expect. The two teens gawk at the dining room around them, the decor having to have cost a small fortune.

 The ceiling seems tall, an estimated ten feet above their heads; made of cobblestone or limestone. Some of the walls jut outwards, cracked and uneven. Smack bang in the middle of the room is a long dining table. Goblets, candelabras, fancy designer plates, silverware and napkins and most importantly that red and white tablecloth are neatly set upon the tabletop. Everything has to be in place to be worthy a feast, correct?

 That’s pretty much how it is, really. The candelabras are lit and everything is set up perfectly for a meal. There’s room enough for twelve. Would others be joining them tonight or are they going to be the ones to dine alone, a last meal in their near future?

 The best thing about this room has to be that it has a set theme: medieval castle and/or dungeon. There isn’t any out-of-place furniture or decor that is past the time era that the room happens to be in. The only thing missing is a suit of armour.

 “This is kind of cool, don’t you think?” Ness admires, starting to walk around the room (ahem, table.)

 “Yeah,” Lucas agrees moving a throne-like chair at one of the ends of the table. Letting out some sort of undefinable noise that’s totally not two or three octaves higher than his normal voice, he promptly jumps back.

 “What’s wrong?” asks Ness, a bit amused. He looks at Lucas’s surprised face. He then hears the distinctive sound of scuttling and something dropping to the floor. Er, make that multiple things.

 Lucas’s face morphs into one of disgust as he takes another step back. His eyes fixed on the dozens of cockroaches that happen to be falling off the chair and scuttling in a large mass towards the other direction.

 “Urgh, isn’t that a disturbing sight?” Lucas turns to Ness who appears next to him. “I know this house is supposed to be abandoned and everything, but I didn’t think there would be a mega-infestation.” The only one who notices how pale Ness is is Lucas.

 Shifting his eyes warily back to the crawlers in front of him, he is unable to properly notice that the Most Terrifying and Disgusting Insects to Have Ever Lived are racing towards the jagged walls and disappearing. No, he’s more focused on the fact that _something_ is on his leg and he has a feeling he knows exactly what it is. It’s his turn to pale as he recalls that several had fallen onto his shoes when he initially moved the chair-one of the reasons he jumped back. This can’t be one of those, oh no.

 It’s alright Lucas it’s just a simple cockroach, right? He gulps, not wanting to dare lay his eyes upon the abhorrent creature. The cockroach can even scare the manliest of man, the alphas of alphas, and the deadliest of criminals. That or they just really don’t like dealing with them. This is actually more of Lucas’s case. He isn’t as afraid of it as much as he doesn't want to deal with it; still, seeing this many in one place does unnerve him.

 It’s only when he feels movement that he decides this atrocity has to go and it has to go _now_. So he does what one normally would do in this situation. He starts kicking his leg in hopes to either shake the damn thing off or at least aggravate it enough that it’ll jump off itself. Well, neither of these turns out to be effective, not that he gets much of a chance to gauge results because his foot somehow collides with a chair leg catching him off balance.

 Lucas flails for a second, groping for something to help steady his balance. The chair is useless the branded design on the makeshift throne too high to really be of any help. So, the next best thing he has is Ness. Unfortunately, Ness has managed to be just out of reach. Skeevy bastard’s probably finding some kind of entertainment from this; which is to say, he kind of is.

 A stroke of luck comes his way as Lucas can’t catch himself and while it seems like he’s going to go down; the asshole near him comes to his rescue. He’s grateful for Ness’s help, but it still doesn’t change the fact that the stubborn little shit on his leg hasn’t moved a centimetre. It mocks him.

 The “help” isn’t done yet as Ness seems more than eager to find a resolution to the problem. He wonders what he has in mind. He knows that the cockroaches skeeve Ness more than they do him as Ness has more of a problem with them. How would this situation be different if he had unleashed the hoard instead? There is great possibility of screaming and a lot of bat swinging.

 Speaking of which Lucas is now regretting inquiring what Ness had in mind. He can come to the conclusion that he may be actually trying to kill him. For there is a glint in his eyes and once again the bat is keen to be used. Oh fuck.

 “Wait, no not the bat-!” In one swift motion the bat collides with his leg, effectively launching the cockroach off of it and almost causing Lucas to drop to one knee wondering why this is happening to him. Woe is he.

 “God damn it!” Seriously, Ness is off his mark. Did he have to hit him that hard? Lucas isn’t exactly weak. Maybe his pain tolerance just isn’t good, but it’s still up for debate. He’s gotten hurt plenty of times and fallen from high places several times before with acrophobia escaping him yet. He can handle this. First he just needs to lament his pain a little.

 Lucas glares at Ness. “What? I got it off of you didn’t I?”

 “Did you really have to use the bat, Ness? This is the second time now!”

 “…I just don’t care for cockroaches, alright? Tangoed with too many roaches in my time,” says Ness deadpanning. Lucas stares at him. “I didn’t want to touch it…” he adds lamely.

 Lucas holds back a scoff; he didn’t either. It gives him no right, though. He sighs, almost as if accepting his fate, “I guess they’re all gone now.” He’s right. The room is now devoid of any demons er, cockroaches.

 “Another ordeal to put behind us,” Ness says optimistically. Seconds later it slowly starts to go sour.

 “Onto the next one; is there any particular reason as to why the table is set?” Lucas _finally_ questions.

 “I don’t know, but whoever’s serving is cooking something that I don’t want to be a part of.”

 “What do you mean? No one’s cooking anythi-” Lucas cuts off as he gets a whiff of something. I…Is that mac and cheese? _Who the hell’s cooking mac and cheese?_

 “I don’t know, it honestly doesn’t smell that bad.”

 Ness raises an eyebrow, incredulous look to match. “You’re kidding right?”

 “What? It’s not like it’s burning…” Lucas trails off remembering a time where he somehow burnt some easy-to-make macaroni and cheese.

 Ness makes a weird face. “Burning? I don’t know what you smell but that putrid smell is clearly escargot.”

 Lucas wonders when Ness has encountered some of that fancy shit but he is quickly consumed by another thought. “They smell nothing alike,” he says.

 “Exactly!” Ness exclaims. “Hey, is it possible we smell different things?”

 Lucas ignores the wording of that question. “I’m sure it’s possible but I’m concerned by the fact apparently someone’s cooking.”

 “You’re right, we should check it out.”

 Without another word, the two move towards the door. They are on their guard as they open it and step back out into the kitchen. All is quiet, but the first thing they notice is that the lights are on; their eyes adjusting to the sudden brightness.

 “I don’t know which is weirder: the lights being on or the fact that any signs of food are gone,” speaks Lucas looking over the wood stove.

 “Both are pretty strange, but that pig head was even weirder,” Ness responds eyes narrowing as he sweeps them over the room, avoiding the fridge at all costs. Everything is how they last saw it sans proper lighting.

 He turns to say something else when he hears rattling. He freezes in place. “H-hey, did you hear that?”

 “Hear what?”

 The rattling increases in volume and Ness pinpoints the source. It’s the knife holder, shaking erratically. The shaking becomes worse once his eyes lay upon it.

 A knife flies out and almost shatters a cabinet window as it bounces off of it. It rapidly strikes the ceiling and then plummets to the floor, gravity taking over.

 “I have a bad feeling about this,” Ness and Lucas say in unison. They look at each other in surprise.

 At this precise moment, the holder ceases its incessant rattling, the knives suspending in midair.

 The unfortunate idiots forced into this mess look back in time to notice what can possibly be the end of them. They’re just in time for final words.

 “Welp, this is the end.”

 “I wouldn’t be so pessimistic, Ness.”

 Then they died; the end.


	4. HH: Torture (Part 2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ness and Lucas continue to explore the house.

 …

 …

 

 Okay, what actually occurs is that Ness hits the floor and Lucas’s jacket gets nicked just below the shoulder.

 

 “That was close,” says Lucas inspecting the damage done to his poor, poor jacket.

 

 “No kidding,” Ness remarks, the knives having lodged themselves in the wall behind him.

 

 “I believe it’s definitely safe to assume that more stuff like this may happen from now on.”

 

 Ness nods in agreement. “We should be more careful, then. Perhaps, staying in this area isn’t a good idea.”

 

 With this, the two boys go back into the den. Without any sort of objective here, they approach the only door they haven’t checked thus far. Being on guard like they always are when they approach doors, Lucas turns the knob and pulls. It’s surprisingly underwhelming how nothing happens.

 

 “Is it locked?”

 

 “No, I think it’s jammed.” Lucas tugs at the door several times.

 

 “Here let me do it, you’re the weak one anyway.” Ness asserts pushing him aside. _Rude_ ; so this is how he’s going to be. Nevertheless, his “statement” becomes invalid as he can’t open the damn thing either.

 

 “This door’s really jammed,” he states.

 

 Lucas once again tries the door. After a few attempts he puts a large amount of force and effort into it. It lets up when he tries again. exasperatedly. It finally flings open, and hits Ness in the face. Karma is a bitch isn’t it?

 

 “Uh, Ness are you okay?” Lucas asks the concern in his voice not matching the amusement given away from his eyes.

 

 “Well, nothing’s bleeding thankfully,” he responds painfully as he moves his hands away from his face. That is going to bruise, ha fucker.

 

 After a moment Lucas turns and both enter the new room…and are promptly flabbergasted by the sight before them.

 

 “What the fuck?”

 

 “Odd placement for a pool…”

 

 The two share a brief look and approach the side of the pool. It doesn’t take them much time to get there; they walk about 2-3 metres.

 

 The pool itself is rectangular and stretches far back into the room; it’s most of the room. Two oversized double-sided windows are displayed on the wall to their right, boarded up on the outside.

 

 What’s really disconcerting is that there’s water in the pool and it’s _clean_. Humming resonates within the room and with the flashlight an object can be outlined on the water. Is that a pool boat? The light is dimmer than dim so any sort of colour is lost.

 

 The prevalent smell of chlorine and mixed feelings reaches them and despite the humming in the room, a filter needs to be seen or the conclusion of hallucination is going to be had.

 

 Walking around the possible mirage at a distance where not a one of them could accidentally fall in, Ness and Lucas make their way to the back.

 

 A small room is structured here. The annoying filtering system that every pool has is held in here. The pool may not be a mirage, but an official discovery is realised: nothing makes sense.

 

 On the right is a door. It has a long black handle to push forward to open it, a mechanic that is quite common for doors in a variety of buildings, no matter their purpose.

 

 Pushing it open and going inside-the door slamming shut behind them-their feet stand just before a wooden staircase with a short landing, and then continues its ascent to the left.

 

 “Why does the pool lead up to the second floor?”

 

 “What is with these rooms?”

 

 “Either someone has a weird sense of humour or a terrible sense in design. These rooms are insane!”

 

 “I can’t bring myself to have hope for the second floor.”

 

 Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum ascend the stairs and come to a long stretching hallway. The flashlight’s illumination distance too short to see all the way down the long stretch, they check out the first part of the hallway.

 

 On their diagonal right sits a white door; they try their luck with it but alas, they never had luck in the first place. Situated on the left is a small mini-hallway that leads to a wooden door smeared with black paint. Dummy 1 opens it, the resounding creak louder and more foreboding than expected in abandoned houses. Dummy 2 catches the door as both enter the room.

 

 Once in, Lucas lets go of it and it slams rather loudly back into place. It sounds like a screen door does when it shuts on its own.

 

 If they weren’t on edge before entering they definitely are now. Even so, this is probably the most normal room they’ve been in thus far. Like the Den, this room is scarce of items, although, it appears to be even more so.

 

 Quite barren; besides some dust and cobwebs, only a dresser, a presumable walk-in closet, and a bedframe missing slats make up the room. Neither the walls nor floor are decorated in any manner as to stand out. Although, there is a ratty old window by the bedframe; its curtain is almost torn to shreds.

 

 Sharing a look and then drawing their attention back to the room, Ness instantly is drawn towards the closet. Lucas trails behind him quietly.

 

 It’s most certainly a walk-in closet. It’s small-large enough for one person-but otherwise contains the appropriate amount of space to fit a varied wardrobe.

 

 Ness stifles sneezing, particles of dust floating around his face. “Nothing interesting in here,” he remarks mostly to himself stepping out and closing the door.

 

 “Can I see that?” Lucas asks. It doesn’t take Ness long to confirm to himself that he was referring to the flashlight and looks at it. He hands it over albeit a bit reluctantly.

 

 Lucas walks over to the dresser, much more interested in it than anything else. Not like there’s anything else to look through in the room, anyway.

 

 Pulling open the top drawer, it lets out a screech that causes both Ness and Lucas to cringe a little. The wooden compartment is empty, except for a green leather-bound book. It isn’t that thick and there isn’t an author’s name or a title written anywhere. There is a place for a name on the front, however, but it’s too illegible to make out.

 

 Upon opening it, it’s found that there is a single page contained inside it, any others looking to have been torn out.

 

 The light shining in the room from the windows causes all items to cast long shadows, but even with the flashlight, Lucas can just barely make out the childish letters on the page.

 

  _‘Hello, my name is Charlotte._

_I did not choose to be a doll, but People have always said that I looked like such._

_He made me like this._

_I don’t want to be this way._

_Beware of Him_

_Don’t look directly_

_Into the abyss.’_

 

 Charlotte? This seems to be some insight as Ninten never gave any names before shooing them off here. What an ass.

 

 The use of _He_ is peculiar based on the text, it’s not used to refer to the Christian God. Plus, if what is written is true, it’s doubtful that any god would just strike down and turn someone into a mere doll.

 

 It strikes Lucas that even with this reasoning the text implies some creepy stuff. First of all, being turned into something; second of all, writing after being turned into a thing, and lastly, that something deeper than they first thought must be going on. Just what have they gotten into?

 

 A thought that the warning about some abyss seems familiar to him but he pushes this thought back in favour of continuing his search. Maybe the other drawers contain something with more context? It’s worth a look. He sets the book on the dresser top.

 

 It becomes obvious that items such as night clothes or more information regarding the note are absent based on the vacancy of the other drawers. It really isn’t an issue but it’s no problem nonetheless since the bottom drawer contains something else.

 

 He metaphorically hits gold as lying ever so nonchalantly is an old-fashioned key. He figures it must open a locked door-hopefully one that they had encountered-and surely enough the worn key has an inscription on it. Lucas finally feels useful for once as he waves for Ness.

 

 “A key to a Study? It’s inscribed-are we going to have to fight a boss for this?”

 

 “Perhaps the other keys looked exactly the same,” Lucas suggests thinking how the room across the hall looks quite different from the wooden door locked in the kitchen.

 

 Ness’s half-joke is nothing more as a surprise boss does not come for them in the moments in which the flashlight is swapped. However, they hear a faint crash and exchange a look.

 

 “I think that was from downstairs,” Lucas says.

 

 “This room is directly above the pool,” Ness points out.

 

 “It must have been a large-scale crash then.”

 

 “Hmm.”

 

 Ness questions its feasibility, but he decides he might as well check nonetheless. Lucas follows him, failing to notice himself putting the key on the dresser with the book. Ness doesn’t notice this either, and he must not have noticed the book too for he doesn’t say anything about it.

 

 Ness reasons that the crash came from the Pool Room somehow, despite not seeing anything that could make a ruckus. Still, he does a once-over and his logic fails him since nothing has been moved or touched except for the pool boat drifting across the water.

 

 A bit confused, they go into the Den. He’s the first to notice the distinct difference. Could this have really been loud enough to have been heard from a room not directly over it? He thought that the Pool Room would’ve buffered if not drowned out the sound enough to go unheard from.

 

 In the middle of the room the TV originally upon a stand now lies destroyed on…that’s not the floor. Getting closer Ness observes a checker-pattern rug. The non-black squares are the ugliest shade of yellow he has ever seen.

 

 “Look, the stand is over there,” Lucas directs, pointing his finger to Ness’s left. In the space between the two windows now stands the TV support system.

 

 For the third time Ness wonders if someone is moving stuff. Would they really let a TV smash on the floor so carelessly, it’s only saving grace being this atrocious rug? Looking towards the door, it only looks to have been moved by the wind outside.

 

 Ness starts to feel slight dread. _Who the fuck would sleep here for a night?_ There’s no way someone would spend the night in this house, not even to move furniture. Maybe someone came in earlier? He tries to take comfort in this thought.

 

 At least nothing else is different. “That painting over there is moving.” Damn it.

 

 Just like the knife holder in the kitchen, the discombobulating abstract painting has started to rattle. He reaches for his weapon but unlike the knives, the wretched painting doesn’t wait for him. It flies off the wall with a crack and a snap. The sound of something small and metallic hitting the floor haunts the room.

 

 The Abstract Painting has decided to attack! It dives straight for Lucas, who takes a good second to process this and jump to the side barely avoiding it.

 

 Its failure to strike its target gives Ness an opening. It abruptly stops and starts to turn around. Not wasting the chance he has, Ness takes it, running forward and swinging his bat. It collides with the face of the gaudy painting, the thin glass shielding it like a mask cracking. The sound is oddly satisfying and the _whoosh_ of it shooting backwards at high speed makes it gratifying.

 

 Before the Painting can crash into the upper frame of the front door, it does the aerial equivalent of screeching to a halt. Oh it’s angry now.

 

 The hideous Painting sets its sights on Ness, Lucas forgotten for the moment. He could be dealt with later.

 

 Hungry, the Abstract Painting hangs there for a moment, as if observing its prey. A small, menacing aura surrounds it, but Ness’s intimidation by it falters as he realises it’s not very fast. That swiftness at the start was only a deception-one-time use.

 

 It all comes together in Ness’s mind as the painting comes towards him. Ness is ready for it, able to time the shot perfectly. This thing is slower than a curveball.

 

 Unable to be deterred by sudden sleepiness, Ness takes the shot and smiles lazily when the glass shatters. He shields himself from shards and suddenly he’s on the floor. His body tells him of a dull pain in his left arm and he scrambles to his feet.

 

 Useless Fuck over yonder is still being a useless shit, but at least he’s not getting his ass murdered. He once again gains the sense to dodge the murderous painting and yawns. This causes Ness to yawn as well.

 

 High in the air, the painting has already angled itself to strike again. Ness on impulse quickly runs shoving Lucas (and himself) away from the attack zone. Both boys stumble but Ness’s quick save infuriates their opponent.

 

 It flies at them in fury but Ness swings his bat and once it’s caught in the blow Ness changes angle and brings the fucker down. Bat and painting collide on the floor and the painting smashes, wooden debris skidding and flying across the floor.

 

 Ness slips his baseball bat back into his backpack expertly. The beaten painting starts to dissipate, its frame in all its shambled glory following suit.

 

 Ness’s sudden drowsiness disappears with the painting and he sighs in relief.

 

 “Shang’s dead,” Lucas mumbles slurring the words. Everything spins around him, lightheadedness discomforting. He can only see blurs distorting the room around him and he stumbles. He closes his eyes hoping darkness will help ease his whirling vision. Lucas puts a hand to the side of his face, although he isn’t sure this actually happens since sickening disorientation consumes him.

 

 Taken aback, Ness catches Lucas before he can hit the ground. His weird irrelevant spoiler had confused the fuck out of him. The only connection he can make is that the painting was destroyed (therefor dead), but he feels as if he should have known Lucas was going to have a sort of reaction once the painting was gone. The poor bastard hadn’t said anything during that fight, not even a “look out!” or something. Maybe that’s expecting too much but Ness figures it’s better not to dwell on it anymore.

 

 “Ugh, what I am going to do with you?” He sighs disgruntled. At this rate Lucas isn’t going to be able to function by himself, is he? Ness doesn’t like this thought and tries to eradicate it from his brain.

 

 “…There is a reason you’re holding me isn’t there?” Lucas speaks cutting through Ness’s thought murder.

 

“How much do you remember?” Ness inquires. He is struck with how quiet it is in here. This realisation perturbs him.

 

 “Well-” Lucas cuts standing up straight and Ness moves away. Lucas stands there dumbly for a moment before looking at Ness. “I think I was beside myself.”

 

 “That much was obvious.”

 

 Lucas rolls his eyes. “Yeah, well, it makes the whole thing hazy to recall. I can recall my actions, but not what I saw…except for the spinning.”

 

 Ness frowns. “I wonder if since the painting’s gone you’ll stop checking out like that.”

 

 “Maybe; everything’s just been a bit strange so I have this weird feeling about it. I feel better, though. Any lightheadedness I felt due to the Abstract Art is now gone.”

 

  _Art his ass_ , but seeing the idiosyncratic slight forward slouch on his friend makes him feel better. Ness beams. “Hey, at least the room looks better,” he muses distractedly.

 

 “…Shit.”

 

 Turning back, Lucas is rummaging through the six pockets he has. He sighs and his hands smack against his capris in dejection his arms hanging disappointingly at his sides. “Insane I must be.” He says. “When we left to investigate I must have lost the key.”

 

 Ness blinks. “Lost?”

 

 “Maybe not lost; I could have misplaced it. Let’s go get it.” Lucas turns away, a hand on his forehead and starts back to the Pool Room. Ness reluctantly follows.

 

 Ness turns on the flashlight, but Lucas doesn’t bother giving the Pool Room a once-over. He heads straight for the stairs, armed with the knowledge that the key has to be in the Bedroom and not anywhere else.

 

 He _knows_ and he looks about the room upon entrance, Ness catching up behind him. The shabby door slams with such force and inertia it reverberates through the room almost deafening. There’s a _click_ hidden undertone _._ Lucas refrains from turning around to glower at Ness. He needs to focus on the task at hand.

 

 Drawn once again towards the dresser Lucas looks at it: no key. In a manner akin to stalking, he goes to the area he was standing in when the crash happened. It’s the last place he remembers having the key.

 

 To his chagrin, the key isn’t here. _Great,_ he thinks sarcastically.

 

 Searching the floor once more he covers a wider search radius, examining the floor boards around the dresser. He takes a peek under the dresser itself but is unable to find anything with his eyes. The crevice is too dark and there’s no way is he sticking his hand under there.

 

 Sighing in defeat he stands up, brushing off any dust he may have accumulated on his person. He pauses when he hears something hit metal. He turns around to the scraping of sneakers on the hardwood floor.

 

 “Lucas, I found it!” Ness exclaims.

 

 “It’s over there? What did I throw it?” Lucas starts towards the bed frame and pauses briefly along the way. He hears faint creaking and warily steps into the bed frame next to Ness.

 

 “Don’t forget that now,” Ness warns him, pushing the key into his hands.

 

 Lucas pockets it for safe keeping, eyeing the closet door. He supposes he should mention it but Ness has already followed his eye.

 

 Both stare at the closet door. The faint creaking that Lucas had heard-almost as if waking from a dream-is now louder. The only thing his ears could focus on, his undivided attention giving the illusion the door is a lot closer than it actually is.

 

 Lucas remembers it as having been closed before. The door now ajar the prevalent drawn out _crreeeaaakkk_ in their ears invading their minds; dread and the petrifying brush of despair like shivering fingers on ice.

 

  _What is that? Is that mist?_ Lucas questions the darkness of the closet emanating something looking suspiciously like mist.

 

 Ness opens his mouth to say something. Instead of the question he wants to ask, however, a startled scream arises in his throat. Unwanted despair drops into his stomach like lead. The time spent standing on air is short his body falling forward as he plummets down below with rollercoaster-like speed.

 

 He barely makes out the pool below before he smacks onto something harshly. The floor rocks under him and he hears a splash. The entire front side of his body feels a pins and needles sort of sensation. He coughs in response to the wind being knocked out of him and the pain he can feel under the numbing feeling.

 

 He takes a deep breath of air. Water slides past his fingertips. The smell of chlorine and plastic invade his nostrils.

 

 His mind collects itself, and he registers groaning and pained complaints behind him. Ness attempts to sit up, the plastic under him shifting with his movements.

 

 “I feel like I’m going to throw up,” Lucas croaks. Ness regards him. It seems he was unfortunate enough to land on a ledge of what is definitely a pool boat. When did it get this bright in here?

 

 “Bad day?”

 

 “Best day of my life.” Lucas sarcastically drawls.

 

 Ness looks up at the ceiling, spotting the trap door from which they fell from high above.

 

 “Jeez, how far did we fall? A sentient murderous painting and somehow I wasn’t expecting a trap door.” He comments.

 

 “It’s almost as if we should expect the unexpected,” Lucas retorts, rummaging through his pockets with a weird look on his face. He drops into the water, causing Ness to look at him incredulously.

 

 “You’re going to swim? You know we could ride this…duck-themed pool boat back to the surface…” He points out awkwardly eyes roaming over all the ducks adorning the boat.

 

 “If you haven’t noticed, _Sir Batter Nessie,_ some of our stuff has gone MIA.”

 

 Ness refrains from mentioning the increased visibility and turns his head. Lucas asks him if his phone is missing and he doesn’t reply, taking the flashlight handed to him. Ness then proceeds to take his bat out of his backpack and lean slightly over an edge, rowing the bat in the water. This somehow works and soon Lucas is calling out to him.

 

 “Ness? Ness! Hey, that’s cheating!”

 

  _‘Oh, my hat’s missing.’_ He observes. He considers turning to find it for .00008 seconds before remembering that Lucas had already tasked himself with finding their missing items.

 

 Upon reaching his destination, Ness scrambles up onto the ledge and steps away from the edge of the pool. Turning around to see how Water Boy is faring something wet slaps itself onto his face. He hears a soft, “yes!” and he slowly removes the offending object, finding it to be his cap. The look on his face is apparently a sight because Lucas starts laughing. Ness himself snickers upon seeing the current state of Lucas’s hair.

 

 Ness starts ringing out his cap as Lucas reaches the side of the pool, informing him that his phone and watch are missing.

 

 “I’m sorry for your loss,” says Ness putting his hand on Lucas’s shoulder once he’s up and standing. Lucas scoffs and removes his jacket, wringing it out.

 

 “I don’t think wringing out your jacket is going to help you much.” He remarks and Lucas gives him a look. “Hey, don’t look at me, you’re the one who went, _“I’m going to swim!”_ ”

 

 “ _Oh_? I’m sorry if you didn’t want your cap back, I didn’t know it meant so little to you.”  Lucas retorts.

 

 “Such disrespect,” Ness accuses. How dare he?

 

 Lucas rolls his eyes at him before putting back on his jacket and making a face of discomfort.

 

 “You might want to wring out your socks,” Ness advises.

 

 “I don’t think there’s time for that,” Lucas says stepping towards the giant windows adjacent to them.

 

 Oh yeah, it _is_ brighter in here than it should be. Ness turns and takes a step forward before noticing three things. The first being that they could see outside, the second being a shadow like figure walking towards the Swing Contraption, and the third being the dark maroon curtains that are now stationed inside.

 

 He watches as the figure approaches the Swing Contraption. It doesn’t do anything for a couple moments before it starts to turn.

 

 Figuring he’d seen enough of what ghost hunters strive to capture on film, he starts to whistle and turns. He walks around the pool the long way and opens the door leading to the second floor. It’s when he’s at the top does he stop.

 

 He takes out the flashlight and attempts to turn it on in the hopes at least _some_ level of light would illuminate from it. It’s pitch dark up here.

 

 “What’s something your brother would say in this sort of situation?” Ness asks.

 

 “ _”Don’t worry a thing, Lucas, I_ toooootally _got this, easy peasy.”_ ”

 

 “…He’s lying when he says that, isn’t he?”

 

 “I’m surprised he still thinks that works.”

 

 “I hope he’s right because I _tooootally got this, okay?_ I have the _best solution_ …Just…let me think of it first.”

 

 Lucas snorts. “Trash Boy got this?”

 

 “Yyyyyup!” Ness exclaims. He pauses. “No, no I don’t,” he admits. “Lucas, what do we do?”

 

 Lucas is silent for a minute. “Well, I do have this key…” He starts.

 

 Ness gasps. “Lucas, I just came up with the stupidest but most brilliant plan!”

 

 “Is it what I think it is?”

 

 “You bet!”

 

 “It’s more stupid than brilliant, but you know what? Let’s do it!”

 

 Ness smiles a little unsure why he’s okay with this plan. Why is Lucas okay with this plan? Perhaps, it’s due to the fact that this feels like the right thing to do or maybe he’s just an idiot.

 

 “Well, I’m going to go see what this key does,” Lucas tells him. Ness hears him walk away before something hits the wall and Lucas mutters something. Ah, he must have slipped on the water he tracked up the steps.

 

 “Make sure you make it back!” Ness calls.

 

 “I will!” Lucas calls back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys enjoyed the second chapter of Torture-I mean HH (it's totally called Torture; maybe I should change the chapter titles). It's a little rough and I can always make some edits, but I wanted to post it. I write Torture mostly in one document, so it's hard to find a place to end it for a chapter, so sorry if it's a bit long.
> 
> Lord help those despair similes.
> 
> Edit: Edited mistakes my friend pointed out.


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